SHERRITT INTERNATIONAL $4.33 (Toronto symbol S; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-800-704- 6698; www.sherritt.com; Shares outstanding: 296.9 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; Dividend yield: 4.0%) is a diversified natural resource company that produces nickel, cobalt, thermal coal, oil and gas. It also manages 356 megawatts of power generation capacity in Cuba, with an additional 150 megawatts starting up this year.

The company is a major nickel producer, with operations in Cuba and Canada. As well, it is now starting up its 40%-owned Ambatovy mine on the island nation of Madagascar, off Africa’s east coast. Sherritt also produces oil and gas in Cuba, Spain and Pakistan and is Canada’s largest thermal coal producer.

In the three months ended December 31, 2012, Sherritt’s revenue fell 12.8%, to $467.9 million from $536.8 million a year earlier. Lower nickel and cobalt prices and a decline in thermal coal sales were the main reasons for the drop. Cash flow fell 56.4%, to $39.5 million, or $0.13 a share, from $90.7 million, or $0.31. That was due to the lower revenue and higher production costs.
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WESTJET AIRLINES $24.93 (Toronto symbol WJA; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-877-493-7853; www.westjet.com; Shares outstanding: 124.1 million; Market cap: $3.1 billion; Dividend yield: 1.6%) is upgrading its interline agreement with Air France to a full codesharing arrangement.

Through code-sharing deals, airlines sell seats on one another’s planes using the same two-letter code.

Code-sharing agreements are especially valuable for attracting business passengers, because they let customers seamlessly connect between flights, and gain frequent-flyer points for the entire distance travelled.

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MCCOY CORP. $4.29 (Toronto symbol MCB; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (780-453-8451; www.mccoyglobal.com; Shares outstanding: 26.6 million; Market cap: $114.1 million; Dividend yield: 4.7%) operates through two divisions: Mobile Solutions and Energy Products and Services.

Energy Products and Services sells hydraulic equipment for drilling rigs. This equipment includes power tongs, which are large, wrench-like tools that tighten and loosen the pipe in the drill hole.

Mobile Solutions builds heavy-duty trailers for U.S. and Canadian clients in the oil and gas, wind energy, infrastructure and construction industries.
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WAJAX CORP. $35.88 (Toronto symbol WJX; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (905-212-3300; www.wajax.ca; Shares outstanding:16.7 million; Market cap: $599.2 million; Dividend yield: 9.0%) sells and services heavy equipment, including cranes and forklifts. It also sells related parts (such as bearings, motors, hoses and fittings) and power systems (including diesel engines and transmissions).

Wajax operates through 128 dealerships across Canada. Its customers are in the natural resource, construction, manufacturing, industrial processing and transportation industries.

In the three months ended December 31, 2012, Wajax’s revenue fell 3.2%, to $364.9 million from $377.2 million a year earlier. Earnings declined 14.3%, to $14.2 million, or $0.85 a share, from $16.6 million, or $1.00 a share.
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BMTC GROUP $13.70 (Toronto symbol GBT.A; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (514- 648-5757; No website; Shares outstanding: 47.5 million; Market cap: $650.8 million; Dividend yield: 1.8%) is one of Quebec’s largest retailers of furniture, electronics and household appliances.

In the three months ended December 31, 2012, the company’s sales fell 6.9%, to $180.7 million from $194.2 million a year earlier. Earnings per share fell 15.6%, to $0.27 from $0.32.

The company’s near-term outlook is uncertain, and the shares trade at 14.6 times BMTC’s latest 12 months of earnings. That’s on the high side for a retailer with limited near-term growth prospects.
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ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD $58.75 (Toronto symbol ATD.B: TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-800-361-2612; www.couche-tard.com; Shares outstanding: 179.4 million; Market cap: $10.5 billion; Dividend yield: 0.6%) is the largest convenience store operator in Canada, with over 2,000 outlets. It also has nearly 3,700 U.S. stores. The Canadian stores operate under the Couche-Tard and Mac’s banners, while the U.S. stores mainly use the Circle K brand.

In the three months ended February 3, 2013, Couche-Tard’s sales jumped 75.2%, to $11.6 billion from $6.6 billion a year earlier. The gain mostly came from Norway’s Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA, which Couche-Tard bought for $2.7 billion in June 2012 (all figures except share price in U.S. dollars). Excluding one-time items, earnings rose 72.3%, to $153.2 million, or $0.81 a share, from $88.9 million, or $0.49 a share.

Couche-Tard’s outlook is positive. It continues to introduce more-profitable products at its North American stores, including new drinks and improved fresh and takeout food. There is lots of potential for it to sell similar items at the Statoil gas station chain.
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AEROPOSTALE INC. $12.76 (New York symbol ARO; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (646-485-5410; www.aeropostale.com; Shares outstanding: 78.3 million; Market cap: $999.1 million; No dividends paid) is a mall-based retailer of casual clothing and accessories. It now has 984 stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico that mainly target 14- to 17-year-old women and men. Aeropostale’s 103 P.S. from Aeropostale stores in the U.S. are aimed at seven- to 12-year-olds.

In the three months ended February 2, 2013, Aeropostale’s sales fell 1.3%, to $797.7 million from $808.4 million a year earlier. Same-store sales declined 8%, compared with a 7% decline a year ago.

Aeropostale’s earnings before one-time items fell 46.6%, to $19.0 million, or $0.24 a share, from $35.6 million, or $0.44 a share, a year earlier.
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The price of natural gas has doubled in the past year. However, natural gas stocks have largely ignored that rise and either remained depressed or lagged behind gas prices.

Maybe that’s because investors take it for granted that winters will remain warm, thanks to global warming. But if that’s how things turn out, rising temperatures will raise demand for air conditioning, which runs on gaspowered electricity plants.

At the same time, environmentalists mostly oppose expanding facilities for liquefied natural gas. These projects would let producers ship more of their surplus gas overseas, where natural gas prices are much higher.
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BELLATRIX EXPLORATION $5.93 (Toronto symbol BXE; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-266-8670; www.bellatrixexploration- .com; Shares outstanding: 107.9 million; Market cap: $639.8 million; No dividends paid) produces natural gas (70% of output) and oil (30%) in Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan.

In the three months ended December 31, 2012, Bellatrix’s production rose 32.1%, to 18,763 barrels of oil equivalent per day (including gas) from 14,209 a year earlier. Cash flow per share increased 7.1%, to $0.30 from $0.28.

Bellatrix continues to have considerable exploration success thanks to its expertise in horizontal drilling (or drilling down and “across” to oil and gas deposits) and fracturing, which involves pumping water, chemicals and other materials into rock to allow oil and gas to flow upward.
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Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions about specific stocks and other topics on investment and the economy from the members of his Inner Circle. Every week, his comments and recommendations on the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And each week, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. While we reserve our buy-hold-sell advice for Inner Circle members, these excerpts provide a great deal of information and analysis on stocks we’ve covered for members of Pat’s Inner Circle....